Hodinkee
Introducing: The Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch 'Master Chronometer' With Co-Axial Caliber 3861
The newest version of the Moonwatch replaces the cal. 1861 Moonwatch, after five decades.
3,333 articles · 17 videos found · page 28 of 112
Hodinkee
The newest version of the Moonwatch replaces the cal. 1861 Moonwatch, after five decades.
Hodinkee
In this video, we head up to Manfredi Jewels in Greenwich, CT, to talk about this, and see why now more than ever we need qualified repairmen via a detailed look at servicing one of the most iconic timepieces in history – the Omega Speedmaster.
Worn & Wound
The traveler’s watch. The last truly useful sport watch today. The GMT watch has, as much as its sibling the dive watch, remained a cultural icon and a best-seller for brands both big and small. Every collector wants – or at least has considered – a GMT watch of some kind. There is good and bad news to that end. The good news is that watch brands have labored to create GMT watches of all sorts to appeal to every breed of watch enthusiast. The bad news is that money doesn’t grow on trees. Of all the classic watch archetypes, the GMT has always straddled that line between ritzy and rough, and we can separate them into two stylistic buckets: dressy and sporty. While the line between the two is often blurred and the definitions themselves somewhat subjective, we thought it would be fun to see how this useful complication has found its way into watches of all kinds. So without further ado, this is your Sunday Smackdown: GMT Edition. The traveler’s watch. The last truly useful sport watch today. The GMT watch has, as much as its sibling the dive watch, remained a cultural icon and a best-seller for brands both big and small. Every collector wants – or at least has considered – a GMT watch of some kind. There is good and bad news to that end. The good news is that watch brands have labored to create GMT watches of all sorts to appeal to every breed of watch enthusiast. The bad news is that money doesn’t grow on trees. Of all the classic watch archetypes, the GMT h...
Monochrome
Frederique Constant is well-known for its wide portfolio of manufacture movements, ranging from classic time-only to high-end tourbillons and perpetual calendars. Still, not all watches from FC are powered by these internally developed and assembled calibres. Specifically, most of the brand’s entry-level models rely on Sellita movements. A new collection, which has just been presented, […]
Worn & Wound
Watch brand YEMA has long been synonymous with French elegance and their latest model, the Superman Bronze CMM.10 is no exception. Utilizing crowd-funding through Kickstarter, YEMA has produced a limited edition watch that is as architectural in design as it is reliable when it comes to performance. Available in two sizes (39 and 41mm) and two dial color options (gradient blue and lacquered black), potential customers have the choice of a watch that best suits their individual preferences. Both dials are a striking contrast to the bronze, adding a balance of warm and cool tones that pair well with the rugged design of the Superman model. The watch itself has undergone a few changes from the original Superman models, most notable in the subtle upgrades to the dial, including the iconic “shovel” second hand has been replaced with a lollipop sweep hand, creating a more harmonious overall design. The timepiece now proudly exhibits French engravings and features the new “MANUFACTURE FRANÇAISE” signature thoughtfully placed at the 6 o’clock position. This change reflects YEMA’s updated brand positioning, resulting from their decision to internalize the manufacturing of components for the CMM.10 caliber. Speaking of the CMM.10 caliber, this movement promises 70-hours of power reserve and is rated to -3/+5 seconds per day is made from non-magnetic alloys to keep it from being impacted by magnetic forces during daily use. YEMA says that they worked in collaboration wit...
Worn & Wound
The Lightness Wars continue today with the release of the new Seamaster Planet Ocean Dark Grey, a ceramic dive watch with a GMT complication that isn’t just another ceramic sports watch. The new reference is filled with technological advancements on the materials and watchmaking fronts that Omega claims give it an improved strength to weight ratio compared to prior watches made from similar materials. Omega’s first big innovation here is the use of silicon nitride ceramic for the case, a lighter ceramic compound that is also very robust. Omega claims it is two times lighter than the Zircon ceramic used throughout the rest of their catalog, and according to their spec sheet the watch weighs in at 107 grams. The color of the case is a cool grey, and seems clearly intended to evoke the tactical lightweight feel of titanium. The other (and perhaps more significant) feature of the new Seamaster is that the dial and movement are both made from titanium, which goes a long way to reducing the total weight of the watch. The movement inside is the Master Chronometer Calibre 8906, which of course has been given the full METAS treatment. All that titanium on the inside and fancy ceramic on the outside will hopefully lead to featherweight wearing experience, because this watch is big by any standard. The case measures 45.5mm in diameter and 17.4mm tall. The lug to lug measurement is 51.5mm, which seems almost reasonable given the hefty diameter. It’s a Planet Ocean, so water re...
Hodinkee
Plus, a sports watch from Nomos and a a master class from JLC.
Worn & Wound
MAEN Watches has relaunched their vintage inspired Skymaster 38 chronograph over the weekend, adding three new updated references to the collection, including a surprising limited edition. The Skymaster feels like a watch right in MAEN’s wheelhouse: a sports watch with an aesthetic that’s clearly inspired by the past, but executed at an incredibly high level with a surprising level of detail, all at a price point that makes these watches tough to ignore. I spent some time recently with MAEN’s Brooklyn 36 reference, an old school triple calendar, and was pleasantly surprised at the level of refinement on a watch that comes in at well under $1,000. The Skymaster, now in a MKIII version, contains many similar small details. There are two big changes with this third edition of the Skymaster 38. First, the watch now runs on the new Sellita SW510Mb manually wound movement, and the case has gone through a series of little adjustments to properly house it. Previous versions of the Skymaster used automatic movements, so the inclusion of a manually wound caliber here represents a significant change, and really plays into the heritage angle of a release like this. Secondly, in addition to offering a 12 hour bezel, MAEN is now making the Skymaster with an optional tachymeter bezel as well. The more prominent tachymeter bezel changes the appearance of the Skymaster dramatically, and should prove popular with collectors who are after a more traditionally styled racing chronograp...
Worn & Wound
Collective Horology, the private watch club/independent brand retailer/producer of thoughtful limited editions, is back with their latest release in an ongoing series of collaborations. This time, they’re working with Montblanc, tapping into the brand’s association with the historic Minerva manufacture, maker of some of the most important chronograph calibers in the history of watchmaking. The 1858 Minerva Monopusher Chronograph “Blue Arrow” P.05 is a high end “What if…?” hypothetical come to life, and a great showcase for a truly special movement. As with all Collective limited editions, this one is something more than a reissue or a tweaked colorway. It exists to tell a specific story about the brand in a way that can often only be done from the outside. According to Collective, the seed of inspiration for the P.05 came from Eric Wind, or more specifically a watch in his case at the 2022 Windup Watch Fair. That year, Eric brought a Minerva stopwatch to the show, and it reminded Collective founders Gabe Reilly and Asher Rapkin of Minerva’s sporting roots, opening up a series of entirely new design possibilities. The 1858 Monopusher Chronograph that Collective and Montblanc came up with drew on the sportier design cues from that stopwatch, including the colors, finishing techniques, and the case material (robust stainless steel, of course). The end result is a chronograph that has many key vintage inspired design elements that are core to Montblanc and Mi...
SJX Watches
As a gifted and passionate watchmaker, Marco Lang is committed to preserving his legacy for future generations. This extraordinary commitment involves providing unrestricted access to all the construction data related to every component of his Zweigesicht-1 timepiece on his website. This open-source initiative aims to assist future watchmakers in servicing Marco’s watches for generations to come. The beginning of independence When a watchmaker, especially an independent one, makes the commitment to ensure that his creations will remain fully functional and cherished by generations to come, it truly demonstrates the depth of his devotion and altruism toward both his present and future clientele. Marco Lang embarked on his journey as an independent watchmaker when he founded his modest workshop in Dresden in 2003, in collaboration with Mirko Heyne and Lothar Zieger, which eventually became known as Lang & Heyne. In 2019, he once again chose the path of an independent watchmaker, this time working entirely on his own. He found a delicate balance between idealism and art, a topic he delves into in this article he penned for us during the year he decided to embark on this new chapter. Marco Lang in his workshop, located within his home. Photo – Marco Lang The subsequent year marked the introduction of his inaugural creation under the “Marco Lang” signature, the double-faced Zweigesicht-1, housing the remarkable calibre ml-01. The calibre ml-01 With all 18 pieces of the ...
Hodinkee
RM has released an upgrade to the 2011 RM 030 and the tech specs are much improved.
Revolution
Worn & Wound
A few years ago, one of the most discussed topics on watch forums, Instagram, and indeed in the Worn & Wound office, was the huge opportunity and desire among enthusiasts for a new crop of affordable GMTs with local jumping hour capability. For a time, it seemed that small watch brands could not keep up with demand for so-called “caller” GMTs with independently set 24 hour hands, but these watches are in fact massively inconvenient for travel, even though, in most cases, they were marketed and sold as watches tailor made for crossing time zones. A watch with an hour hand that reads local time and can be jumped quickly without hacking the movement is the ultimate in terms of travel functionality (with or without the ability to track home time, in my opinion), and there was a time not too long ago where it was thought that a watch with this feature deployed by microbrands in watches under $1,000 might be nothing less than a paradigm shift in the hobby. Well, we’re fully there, folks. The Miyota 9075 exists, and has been popping up in new watches from some of our favorite small brands for the better part of a year, and now Lorier has dropped it into a pair of GMT equipped watches, finally making them the dedicated travel companions many hoped they could be. The Hyperion is what Lorier describes as “the archetypal GMT,” fitting a well established mold of classic travel watches by Rolex and others. It has deep vintage vibes, with a red and blue 24 hour bezel, gilt a...
Worn & Wound
Good design always comes back in cycles. Whether it’s the revival of midcentury furniture or Neoclassical architecture, there’s an undeniable truth when it comes to design: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Watch brands are surprisingly good at acknowledging – even celebrating – past designs, only making small updates for better performance or tweaking the finer details to refine the overall product. Bulova’s release of their reimagined Jet Star is one such example of this. Taking inspiration from the archival 1970’s Jet Star, the new Bulova 1973 Jet Star has made incremental updates to the overall design, preserving what works and making small improvements along the way. The stainless steel case remains as angular and interesting to the eye as the original, but has since been updated with a trio of colorways for a variety of options. Customers can now choose between a sporty steel timepiece with red and blue accents, a gold-toned Jet Star with rich brown and gold tones, or a not-so-subtle red and steel model. While the aesthetic of the watch could be right out of the 70’s, the internals of this watch are anything but retro. Utilizing a Precisionist movement, this quartz caliber vibrates at a remarkable 262kHz, making for a gorgeously smooth second hand that sweeps across the dial, similar to a mechanical watch. This unparalleled accuracy punches well above the weight class and price point of the Jet Star. Each of the three references in this collection ...
Hodinkee
Plus a throwback Breitling Re-edition LE and a Breguet Moonphase in this week's curated selection of what the Hodinkee Shop has to offer.
Worn & Wound
It’s not exactly breaking news, but it seems that integrated bracelet sports watches hold just as dominant a place in the market as they did a year ago, and a year before that. They are coming at us from every angle: the entry level, the high end, and somewhere in between, and with each new release, it feels more and more like this isn’t a “trend,” as so many (including myself) have described it in the past. It’s becoming increasingly clear that what we’re looking at is a product category as broad as “dive watches” or “dress watches.” That means integrated bracelet sports watches are just going to keep coming, not just at every price point, but in every size. And that brings us to the newest release from Tissot, a PRX in a 35mm case and equipped with an automatic movement. The PRX has been available in 35mm for about a year, but only with a quartz movement. An integrated bracelet sports watch in a smaller than normal case size makes a ton of sense, and by all accounts the 35mm PRX was a big hit. The very nature of an integrated bracelet sports watch means that, most of the time, it’s going to wear a bit larger than a watch with a strap or traditional bracelet. The cases for these watches, often somewhat architectural and heavily faceted, have a ton of wrist presence. And the silkiness and drape of the bracelets (when they’re done right) makes comfort a truly defining feature in this category – a watch that’s too big can spoil the whole experie...
Hodinkee
Small doesn't mean quartz with this latest throwback entry into the PRX lineup.
Quill & Pad
Holthinrichs latest watch, the Deconstructed, has taken things to the next level without compromising the elements that make them so special. And Martin Green thinks the bracelet deserves a prize of its own.
Hodinkee
Get ready for your sporty '90s-inspired hits for the summer.
Hodinkee
We say Happy Birthday to the Italian icon that proves you can wear a watch and be glamorous all at once.
Worn & Wound
New watch brands pop up all the time, but it’s less frequent that they arrive with fully realized and distinct design language right from the jump. Usually it takes time for a brand to kind of settle into itself, work out the kinks, and figure out what it is that makes them different from their many, many competitors. Aera is a British brand that came onto the scene last year with their D-1 (a diver) and P-1 (a pilot’s watch), and have just announced a pair of follow up references that are very much in the same vein, but have some subtle improvements as well. At first glance, Aera’s watches look almost run-of-the-mill, but a glance at the specs and a closer look at the dial design and small details of how each component hangs together reveal watches that actually inhabit a unique space in the enthusiast market. In short, these watches are big in every sense of the word. They have unapologetically large 43mm 904L steel cases and come in at 16mm and 15mm thick (for the diver and pilot’s watch, respectively) thanks to dramatically domed, double curved sapphire crystals. There’s a bulbous quality to the case design that recalls Ikepod, and when I had a chance to briefly wear a D-1 last year I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it was for a watch that would normally be outside the limits of what I’d wear on a regular basis in terms of size alone. But they’re big in other ways too. The curved dials have large openings, much bigger than what you’d norma...
Deployant
We compare the megabuck Rodenstock HR50 lens to the value priced Fujinon GF 50. Both attached to the Fujifilm GFX 50S II as the digital back.
Worn & Wound
One of the big hits of the recently completed Windup Watch Fair in San Francisco came from Vero, a brand we’ve been covering for years. The transformation that Vero has made as a company doesn’t get enough coverage. Longtime readers might remember the time we took a look at how Vero was manufacturing watches at their Oregon headquarters, but since that time, the brand has changed their strategy and found their groove with an entirely new aesthetic. In 2021, with the launch of the Open Water diver, Vero made a hard pivot toward outsourcing their manufacturing to trusted Swiss partners, and refocusing the brand on customer service (they now offer a ten year warranty) and shifting the design language into something a little bolder and more colorful. The Open Water and Workhorse Chrono have proven to be durable hits on the microbrand scene, each spawning multiple new references since they made their debuts, and now they’re joined by the Meridian, a handsome manually wound piece that is a completely Vero take on the classic field watch. Vero characterizes the Meridian as a “weekend watch,” which is borne out in the casual color schemes of the two models that recently launched the collection. First up is the Rambler, a bright blue dial with a red and white outer track, and easy to read black Arabic numerals at each hour. We also have the Rally, which is something of an inversion of the Rambler with its cream colored dial and accents in the perimeter in blue and r...
Worn & Wound
Seiko welcomed the Sharp Edge series back in 2020, and the watch has gone on to welcome some of our favorite Presage watches in the process, with last year’s GMT being a particular favorite. The broad, angular case with a distinctive fall off around the wrist is joined by the asanoha dial pattern to present a wholly unique experience within the Presage range. This week, Seiko welcomes a pair of new references to the Sharp Edge family, which open the dial to reveal a new 6R5J 3 day automatic movement within. The movement echoes the same updates we’ve seen rolled out across the 6R range, providing a small bump to the power reserve. The new Sharp Edge watches are indeed what you’d call ‘open heart’ designs, with an aperture directly over the balance wheel placed to the 9 o’clock side of the hand stack. It’s not quite that straightforward here, as there is a bridge layered over the view that recalls the very pattern seen on the dial, the asanoha, or ‘hemp leaf’ motif is rendered across the circular opening, adding a bit of visual continuity with the rest of the dial and presenting a slightly more interesting take on the open heart concept. Two dial colors are on offer here: a light option called shironeri (SBP415), which represents unbleached white silk; and a deep blue option called aitetsu (SPB417). The blue dial fades to darker tones at the dial’s perimeter, but both dials are rather dynamic thanks to the inset pattern offering plenty of surfaces...
Worn & Wound
Horage is a bit of an oddity in the watch world. Most brands build for years and years to be able to produce even a simple three-hand movement, should they even choose to go that route, and they tend to demand a high price. Horage has been working on theirs since its inception and has maintained a goal of industrialization over high prices starting with the K1, which had a silicon escapement and a modular complication system back at launch. Though it didn’t get the attention it deserved initially, it did inevitably ascend the horology ranks and prove its viability, as the K1 serves as the basis of Bremont’s ENG300 calibers. Eventually, Horage added the micro-rotor wound K2, featured in the Supersede. Another rarity, in addition to being thin, as micro-rotors tend to be, the K2 also featured modular design allowing for complications without increasing the base movement’s thickness by much, as well as a silicon escapement, 72-hour power reserve, and within chronometer accuracy. Another movement that would be impressive coming from a large luxury group, let alone an independent brand like Horage. While neither are small feats, today we’re looking at a watch with a movement that is perhaps even more impressive. The Lensman 1 features the K-TOU caliber, which is Horage’s in-house, Swiss-made tourbillon. Yes, you read that right. And the watch, despite featuring such a rare and exotic complication, comes in at under $10k. There’s a lot more to the watch as well, whic...
Hodinkee
"You must pay the price, if you wish to secure the blessing." – Andrew Jackson
Hodinkee
This surprising precious metal diver is ready for Summer.
Quill & Pad
Let us be honest; there are already quite a few high-end, time only watches in stainless steel with an integrated bracelet design to choose from. So what possesses a brand to enter this market with yet another model? I have no idea, but Martin Green is glad Zenith took this bold move last year with the Defy Skyline.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Watches and Wonders 2023 was Panerai's opportunity to breathe some new life into their somewhat neglected product line (in relative comparison to the Submersible and Luminor product offerings). Let's dive into what the legacy Italian brand has in store for the Radiomir collection.
Hodinkee
The line represents TAG Heuer's answer to the colorful Rolex Oyster Perpetuals and Omega Aqua Terras.
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